Vol. 43, No. 6 September 26, 2013
A Weekly Update of Activities at Rust College
Campus NewsBriefs
Where Tomorrow’s Leaders are Students Today
President’s Opening Convocation 2013
“As you begin this year, we challenge you to do the best of whatever it is you intend
to do this year,” said Dr. David L. Beckley during the 2013 President’s Opening
Convocation, held Tuesday, September 10th. “All of you are important to our state,
our church, our country, and the world; for you carry the future of this state and
nation on your shoulders. Why do we say that? Because you will be expected to lead
in all spheres of our country during your working career. Our future as a nation rests
on your shoulders.”
Greetings were also given by City of Holly Springs Mayor Kelvin O. Buck, SGA
President Noah Moore, and Miss Rust College Andrea D. Cooper.
The President’s Opening Convocation was also the stage for the U.S. Constitution
Day lecture; this year, the lecture was presented by Dr. Sandra Vaughn, Director of
Institutional Advancement. She encouraged students to learn the Constitution and
understand how it applies to legislative and judicial decisions in today’s world.
Dr. Beckley also recognized three students who are recipients of the Ida B. Wells-
Barnett Scholarship for the 2013-2014 academic year. Presentations were made to
Andrea Cooper, Shanderla McDaniel and Demonte’nez Boga.
Social Science Professor Publishes First Solo Book
African American Life and Culture in Orange Mound: Case Study of a Black Community in
Memphis, Tennessee, 1890-1980 is the first book Dr. Charles Williams has written without
collaboration. He has co-authored several publications prior to the August 2013 publication of his
new work.
Dr. Williams says the research for his book was done as part of his dissertation while pursuing
his Ph.D. from University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois in 1981. The book explores
the life and community of African Americans in the Orange Mound community of Memphis,
Tennessee, from the late 1800s to the late 1900s, ending in 1980.
“It's a critical book because, basically, this is a very historical community,” Dr. Williams said.
“There are just only a few communities that were started from day one for black people, that they
built themselves. This community was started from day one, built primarily for blacks, kind of
like a planned community. The only people living there were black people (in 1890). Not only
that, the time period when it came into being, it was also a community where people took pride in
ownership. It was one of the few places in the South that a black person could buy a piece of land
and build a house on it and call it their own. That was their community. So in terms of home own-
ership... there's a lot of pride in that community. Church, schools, a very close-knit community
that's been intact through all these many years. Now it's sort of falling on hard times because a lot
of the original members, elderly people died off and it's leading to a lot of young transients,
young families moving in and they don't understand the history of the community.”
Dr. Williams says he is currently working on a second book which will explore the community of Binghampton, also
located in the City of Memphis.
Dr. Beckley with the 2013 recipients of
the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Scholarship
Award: Andrea Cooper and Shanderla
McDaniel. Not pictured: Demonte’nez
Boga.
Dr. Charles Williams
“BY THEIR FRUITS… Page 2
Class of 2017 Leads Assembly
The freshmen class hosted the weekly AEP
assembly on Thursday, September 19. The program
was designed to MOTIVATE students to reach
their Destination: Graduation. Led by Rashawn
Jackson, Class President and Allyson Sims, Vice
President, students presented messages of motiva-
tion and success through dance, poetry and song.
Class Secretary Justice Lynch gave a rousing
speech to motivate her peers and classmates.
“Why are we here at Rust College? We are here to
learn how to do all that we can, for as many as we
can, in all the ways that we can, for as long as we
can. Many of us are from different places and back-
grounds; each of you have a role for the present and
future. Keep motivated: put God first, heads always
being up, and remember, we are a new chapter. Not
just a new freshmen class, but new leaders of a new
legacy that will live forever.
Other program participants were Patience Rolondo,
Miss Freshman; Shrekia Thomas, Class Treasurer;
Atiyah Reed, Adrienne Reid, who performed a
praise dance; Taylor Alexander and Colbie Ellis,
who sang an inspired version of “Lean on Me”.
The Rust College Lyceum Series presents:
Watoto De’Afrika
Memphis Performing Arts Academy
Monday, September 30, 2013
7:00 p.m.
Doxey Alumni Fine Arts-Communication
Center, Morehouse Auditorium
(AEP Credit—1 point)
The public is invited—Free Admission
Please note: NO CELL PHONES ALLOWED
Left to right: Rashawn Jackson, Atiyah Reed, Allyson Sims, Shrekia Thomas, Dr. Kenneth
Jones, First Year Experience Director; Justice Lynch, Ms. Shelley Jackson, Retention
Coordinator; Patience Rolondo, Colbie Ellis, Taylor Alexander, and Adrienne Reid.
Rust College welcomes Dr. James Bell as H.F. McCarty
Family Endowed Chair and Special Assistant to the
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Rust College welcomes Dr. James Bell as
H.F. McCarty Family Endowed Chair and
Special Assistant to the Vice President for
Academic Affairs. Dr. Bell, a 1964 graduate
of Rust College, will serve as the H.F.
McCarty Family Endowed Chair in
Business, as well as the Special Assistant to
the Vice President for Academic Affairs for
Program Development.
Dr. Bell earned a degree from Rust College
in Social Science and Economics. He moved
forward to graduate studies at
Atlanta University in Economics, and to ad-
ditional graduate studies at Georgia State University in Public
Administration. Dr. Bell used these graduate level courses as foundation
for a Ph.D. from Michigan State University. His most recent work assign-
ment was Professor and Department Chair, Business Administration
Department, Harris-Stowe State College, St. Louis, Missouri.
The H.F. McCarty Family Chair is a symbol of honor. It is the story of
four children, Marsha, Katherine, Patti, and John, and their love and
appreciation of their parents, Mary Ann and H.F. McCarty. It is the story
of a family’s love of the United Methodist Church and higher education. It
has been proven that the McCarty Family lives the Methodist philosophy
to “give as much as you can.”
We trust in Dr. Bell’s ability to keep the McCarty family’s tradition and
vision at the forefront in all that he does for the Rust College family.
Dr. James Bell
...YE SHALL KNOW THEM” Page 3
Students Attend Middle
Passage Commemoration
Students from Dr. Stovall’s African Ameri-can History and Introduction to Social Sci-ence classes and Dr. Charles Williams’ So-cial Stratification class attended the 2013 Middle Passage Commemoration at Le-Moyne-Owen College on Thursday, Septem-ber 12. The featured speaker was Dr. Charles Williams, Associate Professor of Social Science, and Director of Research at Rust College. The commemoration cele-brated twenty years of heightening the awareness of the plight of those who endured the Middle Passage and the impact they have
had on American History.
Scholarship Opportunities
The Shine Bright Scholarship is available to undergraduate and graduate students. To be considered, you must submit a
minimum 500-word essay on one of the following topics: "How can the Web give a company a competitive advantage?" or "How
will you use your 'personal shine' to make a difference?"
Scholarship/Grant Amount: $1,000
Scholarship/Grant Deadline: December 15,2013
For more information: http://www.evesaddiction.com/scholarship.html
ACE Fellows Program The nation's premier higher education leadership development program is now accepting applications and nominations for the
2014-15 class. This unique program condenses years of on-the-job experience and skills development into a single year. As a re-
sult, the ACE Fellows Program is the most effective, comprehensive leadership development program in American higher educa-
tion today.
Program components include:
• Multifaceted Agenda: Individualize your experience through a multifaceted agenda that combines learning in a formal cur-
riculum with real-life, day-to-day experiences including placement at a host institution, mentoring, visits to campuses and
higher education organizations and more.
• Mentoring and Experiential Learning: Structure your fellowship experience to spend an extended period of time on another
campus working with the president and senior leadership team.
• Interactive Retreats: Participate in three retreats designed to broaden and deepen your knowledge of leadership, strategy, and
the world of higher education.
• Individualized Learning: Work with your nominating and host institution mentors to design an individualized Learning Con-
tract that articulates your plans for the year.
Visit www.acenet.edu for detailed information and to begin the application process. If you have specific questions, please email
us at [email protected] or call (202) 939-9420.
Drs. Femi Ajanaku,
Director of the African
and African Studies
Program at LeMoyne
Owen College, and
Elton Weaver, Assistant
Professor of History.
Page 8 Rust College
“Where Tomorrow’s Leaders are Students Today”
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY…
Emergency notifications for students, faculty and staff will be handled by mass email, Channel 19, WURC 88.1 FM, RC-TV 2, and
campus loud speakers. If you would like to receive emergency notifications by text message, please submit your cell phone number to
Mr. Carllos Lassiter, Dean of Students. The numbers will be used for emergencies ONLY and will not be distributed.
Emergency Numbers:
Security office: 662-252-8090 Security guard on patrol: 662-216-3429
Dr. David L. Beckley, ‘67, President
Ms. Adrienne F. Phillips, Public Relations Specialist
Dr. Ishmell H. Edwards, ’71, Vice President for College Relations
Help Rust College win $50,000 in scholarship money!
To Vote: Visit www.allstate.com/represent
Rust College
Loan Disbursement
and Refund Policy
Loan disbursement and refunds will be
issued after authorized charges have been
deducted (tuition, room & board, etc).
All students must be enrolled with at least
six (6) hours each module at the time re-
funds are disbursed.
Loan Disbursements
Fall/Spring Semesters
For students who have less than “30”
hours, loans will be disbursed to the
college in two equal payments each
semester on the following dates:
2013 Fall Semester
1st Payment: September 23, 2013
2nd Payment: November 15, 2013
2014 Spring Semester
1st Payment: January 16, 2014
2nd Payment: February 6, 2014
If the student account shows a credit balance
after payments have been applied to the stu-
dent’s college expenses (tuition, room and
board, etc,) a refund check will then be issued
to the student no later than 14 days after the
credit balance has been noted.
Date Opponent Location
11/9/13 *LeMoyne Owen (Exhibition) Home
11/16/13 Webster Tournament Away
11/17/13 Webster Tournament Away
11/19/13 *Millsaps College Home
11/23/13 Huntingdon College Away
11/26/13 Birmingham Southern Away
11/30/13 Rhodes Classic Away
12/1/13 Rhodes Classic Away
12/4/13 Bethel University Away
12/9/13 *Hendrix College Away
12/11/13 *LaGrange College Away
12/14/13 East Texas Baptist College Away
12/15/13 Wiley College Away
12/29/13 *Oglethorpe University Away
12/30/13 *Oglethorpe University Away
1/3/14 Millsaps Classic Away
1/4/14 Millsaps Classic Away
1/6/14 University of Dallas Away
1/7/14 Austin College - Dallas Away
1/9/14 *Wiley College Home
1/18/14 *LeMoyne-Owen College Away
1/19/14 *Millsaps College Away
1/30/14 *Philander Smith College Home
2/3/14 *Tougaloo College Away
2/12/14 *Philander Smith College Away
2/15/14 *Tougaloo College Home
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